Election Judges Facing A Purge

April 23, 1986|By Andy Knott and Mark Eissman.

More than half of the 220 election judges assigned to work in the 26th Ward in last month`s special election may have to be replaced before next week`s aldermanic runoff election, officials said Tuesday.

A survey by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners this week has raised questions about the conduct of 118 election judges who may have violated election rules by not working on Election Day or failing to cast a ballot in their party`s primary.

The performance of the judges, who are assigned to precincts as either Republicans or Democrats, was a central focus of the protracted court fight that led to next Tuesday`s runoff between Luis Gutierrez and Manuel Torres.

Both candidates criticized the judges for opening polling places late on March 18. Torres has charged that election judges failed to properly handle write-in ballots. Those disputed ballots were not discovered for two weeks and not counted until April 17. The write-in votes ultimately denied Gutierrez the majority he needed to avoid a runoff.

By law, five judges are appointed in each precinct. In the 26th Ward, there were 220 judges assigned in 44 precincts for the March 18 election.

In the survey, election officials reported that 56 judges failed to report to their precincts or left early; 11 voted in the opposite party primary; and 51 did not vote at all.

Failure to cast a vote or voting in the opposite primary are grounds for dismissal, election board chairman Michael Lavelle said Tuesday. He said election judges whose attendance is questioned are permitted a hearing, but no action will be taken on any of the findings until they are verified.

Lavelle said he will replace the election judges from a list of volunteers. If necessary experienced judges from other wards will be recruited, he said.

Lavelle said the effort this week to ensure better attendance and performance by the judges has resulted in a last-minute ``crunch.`` He said every judge assigned to next Tuesday`s election will be asked to attend a training session this weekend in City Hall.

``We weren`t expecting to have an election until last Thursday (when the write-in ballots were counted),`` Lavelle said. ``We have to do all this stuff in a hurry.``

The results of next Tuesday`s election--between Gutierrez who is backed by Mayor Harold Washington and Torres, whose chief supporter is Ald. Edward R. Vrdolyak (10th)--could shift the balance of power in the city council to the mayor.

The efforts of the election board to replace judges is symbolic of the heightened scrutiny being given to the race. Cook County State`s Atty. Richard Daley has pledged to place assistant state`s attorneys in each of the 44 precincts.

But perhaps the greatest indication of intensity is the rhetoric of the candidates.

On Tuesday, Torres again asked for law enforcement officials to investigate Gutierrez`s campaign finances, this time a $10,000 loan from a former ward resident now living out of state. And, standing in the Criminal Courts building lobby, he contended his opponent had solicited votes from Cook County Jail inmates, but acknowledged under questioning that he lacked proof. Gutierrez denied the charge, called Torres ``nuts`` and invited him to debate, a challenge Torres accepted though no date has been set.

Gutierrez, who said he listed the $10,000 payment as a loan rather than a contribution on campaign disclosure forms, said the loan was made to him on Feb. 28 by a friend and must be repaid within 6 months.